With Everyone Gone
by SLTheOneAndAwesome
Summary: After ACiT oneshot. Sigmund was originally ecstatic once he was promoted to Senior Caretaker.  He didn't realize it meant he would be all alone.   Takes place in a head canon where Klunk winds up at the Clock.  SigmundxKlunk if you squint .


I stared at the Chronosceptor Clank had given to me, officially promoting me to Senior Caretaker when he left the Clock. It felt like so long ago, when in reality, it couldn't have been much longer than a couple of weeks.

I had been so excited when he handed me that sceptre, when he informed me that the Clock I had to come to call home was now my complete responsibility. It was a great feeling to know that after all of these years, I had rightfully earn the title that granted me this.

Taking care of the Clock, dealing with Terratropes, fixing time rifts in the different planet rooms and checking the mnemonic chambers kept me occupied and excited. I had never been able to do any of these things, I could only watch Orvus and Clank as they handled them. It was riveting at first, exciting and empowering.

But once these tasks became mundane, I started to realize how empty the Clock felt. Fixing time rifts wasn't fun when you didn't have Clank to explain things to or Orvus to throw terrible puns at you. Defeating Terratropes wasn't nearly as satisfying without someone to congratulate you.

I began to realize that with Clank's decision to leave the Clock and my promotion, I had been abandoned once again. And it hurt all the same. Worse even. Orvus's leaving me wasn't voluntary.

I began reminiscing over the short amount of time Clank had spent in the Clock. I kept thinking of old memories with Orvus. I went to the computer and constantly played old recordings of the two, if only so I would have _something. _Seeing them and knowing they were never coming back simply made me feel even lonelier.

Orvus wouldn't be able to come back, I knew that much and I knew I couldn't keep my hopes up. But Clank was still out there, wasn't he? He could come and drop in, right? But when the days kept adding up, I started to wonder why he would even consider returning to visit. His mind had been on Ratchet the whole time he was separated from the Lombax. Now that they were back together, why would his thoughts drift anywhere around me? He had never really been happy here, in the Clock, with me.

The pessimistic thoughts grew louder every day. I tried filling the void Orvus and Clank had left by interacting more with the Zoni. They needed to be kept entertained on a regular basis or else they would get bored and cause a mess in the Clock. That had also been my job when I was Junior Caretaker, especially once Orvus had left and Nefarious had yet to use the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler to scatter them. With no one to help me then I had learned all of their favourite forms of entertainment, but the Zoni were hive minded. No matter how deep I dug, there was nothing to look for characteristically.

My boredom led to too much time to think, and too much time to think led to doubtful thoughts and doubtful thoughts led to ruminating over doubtful thoughts. I began to question my existence at the Clock and if I even deserved to be called Senior Caretaker. Sure, I had the Chronosceptor now and I had more responsibility than I'd even had once Orvus had left. But I didn't have the same abilities as Orvus nor had I been granted them like Clank. Every time I would be near the Orvus Chamber I would sigh in frustration, knowing that I didn't any way to access it. Every time I entered the mnemonic stations I would pray for the Orvus remnant that Clank had discovered upon entering the station his first time. But the result each time was equally as disappointing as the last.

I was _not_ meant to be here alone. It was too much responsibility for one robot to handle alone. The loneliness made it an unbearable one.

It was about three months after Clank had left the Clock that everything changed. I was attending to my chores when I heard a slightly familiar whirr of servos. They weren't from anywhere in the Clock, I was aware of that. But I couldn't quite place the reason I recognized the sound.

But another realization clicked into my mind: whirring servos were found in robots.

I immediately recognized the sound as a threat. With my Chronosceptre in hand, I made my way towards the strange robot, threatening to beat him up so he would leave.

A tiny robot stepped out of the shadows and I gaped with glee. I grabbed the smaller robot, unable to control myself in my excitement. "Clank! I was wondering when you would come back to see me!"

Imagine my surprise when the small robot threw me off of him and glared down at me with hardened, red optics. "Do not insult me by mistaking me for that fool." The robot insisted.

"You're not Clank?" the disappointment in my voice was evident. I even noticed pity swirl into this strange robot's gaze. Even though I didn't know him, it his confused glare made it obvious that that emotion was foreign to him.

This stranger looked exactly like Clank. Every single detail was the same other than those eyes. The harsh, red eyes were far off from Clank's soft green gaze.

"No, I am not that squishy loving fool." He continued to glare at me, as though I had sinned by making this mistake. He took his gaze off of me and stared up at the translucent ceiling above us and added, "However I was built from his design, so I can understand your mistaking me for him."

I didn't even catch what could have been taken as an apology from the strange robot as I was been too focused on the words _built from his design_. I grabbed the other robot's hand and quickly began to move along, forcing him to follow after me. I ignored his protests and demands as one thought clung to my mind.

"What is the _meaning_ of this? Let go of me at _once_!" the small robot ordered as I stopped the both of us on the switch in front of the Orvus Chamber. I leaped off of the panel and stood aside as we both watched as the meaningless symbols on the door began to move of their own will, forming Clank's face, no _this_ _robot_'s face before opening the door, revealing the Orvus Chamber to us.

I let a wild grin stretch across my face and the other robot stared into the Chamber, a look of intrigue and confusion clear on his face.

Once I was over my initial shock I grabbed the smaller robot around the shoulders and asked, "How would you like to be Junior Caretaker of the Great Clock?"

The smaller robot stared up at me, his mouth slightly agape, as though he couldn't quite understand what I was asking him. He simply kept staring up at me with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

I, however, was not hearing a no. So I decided right then and there that he would be my Junior Caretaker. He's never agreed to the offer, but he hadn't left the Clock either. He continued to hang around and he seemed almost lost, so I didn't have the heart to kick him out. He eventually started helping out with my tasks. We got to know each other and I discovered that his name was Klunk.

While he's never gone so far to call me an acquaintance or show nearly as much affection or tolerance as Orvus and Clank, his presence has made me feel that much more whole.


End file.
